The process of providing technical assistance to end users is laborious, complex, error prone, and consequently costly. Today, technical solutions and computing principles exist to remedy known technical problems or intercept their occurrence. However, artificially intelligent systems, as well as autonomic computing principles, continue to possess shortfalls in terms of applicability to real-life challenges. As a result, technical assistance continues to be in high demand for large organizations and private individuals alike.
Traditionally, support communities operate from a knowledge base that includes past reported as well as potential future problems and their solutions. Knowledge bases are utilized to ensure that proper expertise is captured, refined, and shared among support professionals and end users alike. Regardless of whether the support knowledge base (e.g., support or help documentation) is utilized by an experienced professional or a novice use, the process involves understanding the support documentation available and then manually executing the remediation steps outlined therein.